Abstract
A drastic decline in insect fauna on a large scale has been reported. We assume that this is a multifactorial problem involving biotope types and plant diversity, soil characteristics and human activity (management of areas). The aim of our study was to analyze diversity patterns of carabid beetles and butterflies as predatory and phytophagous arthropod groups in response to soil characteristics and plant diversity in different types of ecosystems and ecotones with diverse management situated in a heterogeneous landscape composed of different forests, agricultural and post-agricultural areas of different stages of succession and watercourses and mires in north-western Poland. Three different forests, three fallows, two meadows and two ecotones, differing with respect to the involved ecosystems, were included in the study. Our results showed that the study site types differed with respect to soil characteristics and plant diversity, but ecotones were not characterized by explicitly higher diversity in these parameters. For both carabid beetles and butterflies, characteristic assemblages for individual study sites could be demonstrated. We could also show differences in the most important factors between these two taxonomic groups. We assume that management type is important regarding ecosystem characteristics and biodiversity. Large-scale management strategies are necessary in order to maintain or create landscapes with high natural qualities.
Highlights
Introduction published maps and institutional affilNowadays, we are confronted with a strong loss in biological diversity
The diversity of ecosystems in the landscape is an important factor for habitat diversity, which depends both on habitat diversity between and within ecosystems, e.g., [12]
Our results showed that the study site types differed with respect to soil characteristics and plant diversity, but ecotones were not characterized by explicitly higher diversity in these parameters (hypothesis (1))
Summary
Introduction published maps and institutional affilNowadays, we are confronted with a strong loss in biological diversity. A drastic decline in insect fauna on a large scale has been reported [1,2,3,4,5]. We assume that this is a multifactorial problem involving biotope types and plant diversity, soil characteristics and human activity (management of areas). The diversity of ecosystems in the landscape is an important factor for habitat diversity, which depends both on habitat diversity between and within ecosystems, e.g., [12] In this regard, ecotones deserve special attention because they can be centers of high species richness and can sustain species that are less abundant or do not occur elsewhere [13]. Langhans and Tockner [14] showed the significance of floodplain ecotones for beetle biodiversity
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